Correspondence Chess
The Game of Chess
Chess is a board game and mental-skill game for two
players. It is played on a square board of eight rows (called
ranks) and eight columns (called files), giving 64 squares of
alternating colour, light and dark, with each player having a
light square at the near right corner when facing the board.
Each player begins the game with 16 pieces which can move in
defined directions (and in some instances, limited range) and
can remove other pieces from the board: each player's pieces
comprise eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one
queen and one king. One player controls the white pieces; the
other player controls the black pieces, The player that controls
white is always the first player to move.
In chess, when a player's king is directly threatened by one or
more of the opponent's pieces, the player is said to be in
'check'. When in check, only moves that can evade check, block
check or take the offending piece are permitted. The object of
the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the
opponent's king is in check, and no move can be made that would
escape from check.
Chess is not a game of chance; it is based solely on tactics and
strategy. Nevertheless, the game is so complex that not even the
best players can consider all contingencies: although only 64
squares and 32 pieces are on the board, the number of possible
games that can be played far exceeds the number of atoms in the
universe.
Chess is one of the world's most popular games; it has been
described not only as a game but also as an art and a science.
Chess is sometimes seen as an abstract wargame; as a "mental
martial art", and teaching chess has been advocated as a way of
enhancing mental prowess. Chess is played both recreationally
and competitively in clubs, tournaments, online, and by mail
(correspondence chess).
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of
long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence
ches server, through e-mail or by the postal system; less common
methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon.
It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the
players sit at a chessboard at the same time (or perhaps play at
the same time remotely).
Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who geographically
distant to play one another without meeting in person. The
length of a game played by correspondence can vary depending on
the method used to transmit the moves: a game played via server
or by e-mail might last no more than a few weeks or months, but
a game played by post between players in different countries
might last several years.
Structure of correspondence chess
Correspondence chess differs from over-the-board play in several
respects. While in OTB chess only one game is played at a time
(the exception being in a simultaneous exhibition), in
correspondence chess sever all games are usually played at once.
All games in a tournament are played concurrently, and some
players may have more than a hundred games continuing at the
same time. This kind of chess is also called online chess and e-mail
chess.
The time limits in correspondence play are usually between 30
and 60 days for every 10 moves. This allows for far deeper
calculation, meaning that blunders are very rare. The use of
some assistance, including books and chess databases, is often
allowed.
Correspondence Chess Server
A correspondence chess server is arguably the most convenient
form of correspondence chess. Instead of players directly
emailing moves to each other, the game is played on a clickable
board on a web page, which keeps track of all the moves. The web
server emails each player when it is his or her turn. This helps
ensure email privacy, and avoids the potential pitfalls of using
email clients, such as viruses. It also eliminates the need for
players to maintain their own chessboards.
Most correspondence servers have move validation and check for
stalemate and checkmate. This eliminates the sending of illegal
moves, which would then have to be corrected.
One of the drawbacks of a corresondence server is downtime. If
the server is unavailable for any reason, the games it is
serving cannot be played.
Correspondence chess servers offers many features like
tournaments, thematic tournaments, teams, and other social
facilities and features.
We recommend www.chesshere.com a good correspondence chess
server to play chess